Motionless heat pump – A new application of thermal transpiration

Abstract

A motionless heat pump system using a combination of thermal transpiration flow of a rarefied gas and a phase change of water has been proposed. This system consists primarily of a thermal transpiration pump, referred to as a Knudsen pump, and two chambers filled with water and water vapor, respectively. The Knudsen pump moves water vapor from one chamber to the other. The pressure drop in the outflow chamber promotes the evaporation of water and heat absorption, whereas the pressure increase in the inflow chamber promotes vapor condensation and heat generation. The maximum pressure difference and mass flow rate obtained by a Knudsen pump composed of a glass fiber filter were 57.6 Pa and 0.0484 mg/s/cm2, respectively, at a temperature difference across the filter of 120 K between the two chambers. The vapor delivery capacity of this pump was also measured experimentally.A motionless heat pump system using a combination of thermal transpiration flow of a rarefied gas and a phase change of water has been proposed. This system consists primarily of a thermal transpiration pump, referred to as a Knudsen pump, and two chambers filled with water and water vapor, respectively. The Knudsen pump moves water vapor from one chamber to the other. The pressure drop in the outflow chamber promotes the evaporation of water and heat absorption, whereas the pressure increase in the inflow chamber promotes vapor condensation and heat generation. The maximum pressure difference and mass flow rate obtained by a Knudsen pump composed of a glass fiber filter were 57.6 Pa and 0.0484 mg/s/cm2, respectively, at a temperature difference across the filter of 120 K between the two chambers. The vapor delivery capacity of this pump was also measured experimentally.